Does the game have in-game voice and text chat? Is the text chat tidy, or is it an absolute clustereff like Quake Wars was?

It does. It can be toggled on/off. But for the 1st ranks (Levels 1-5) it is turned off, making you only rely on in game character communications to learn teamwork.

There have never been any official word or gameplay showing text or voice chat, as far as I know.

It's confirmed to exist, but we don't know how it will be implemented.

It's sort of a big selling point for me, and I have bad memories from Quake Wars.

If you have some friends, then just roll with them for a few levels. Then once you get use to all the maps, then go for some pick up games.

If you don't have any friends to play with, play with your self (sixual innuendo aside) or go into free mode and get to know the map better.

A player who knows the map, makes a better player. Especially for this game.

That doesn't really make sense.

I'm a PC gamer. I need my text chat and voice communication. I need them to be clear and unspammy. I've been looking for confirmation that Brink has these things, but I've found none officially.

VOIP is built into the game, but is off by default for strangers, but on for friends.

No information on PC text chat yet

The game also communicates for you, talking to the players that matter. When you are out of ammo, it sends a canned message to the soldiers on your team. Same for medics and your health. This is one of the main uses of the objective wheel once you get used to the game. It tells your team what you are trying to do, and offers them missions to help you out.